Tax Information

In
virtually every country, individuals who earn income must pay
taxes. In some countries taxes are taken out before you
even receive a paycheck. In other countries, like the United
States, some funds are taken out of your paycheck, but you must
file a tax return at the end of the year so the exact amount of
money you owe in taxes can be calculated.

International
Students and Taxes

Your earnings as an F-1 student will be subject to applicable
federal, state, and local taxes unless you qualify under a tax
treaty between the United States and your home government for
a reduction or exemption of taxes.

U.S.
employers are required by law to withhold those taxes from your
paycheck and send them to the federal and state governments.
Your federal taxes are paid to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service
(IRS), and your state taxes are paid to the Illinois Department
of Revenue.

Key
Points

Here are some key points about U.S. taxes that international
students should know. By April 15th of each year:

1. All international students
must file a Statement for Exempt Individuals, Form
8843,whether they
have worked in a job or not. (Please refer to Form 8843 Instructions
for exceptions.)

2.
All international studentswho work (those who
owe taxes and those
who are covered by a tax treaty and do not owe taxes) must
file, for the prior calendar year:

A
U.S. Income Tax return - most often 1040 NR-EZ (the
"easy" or simple form for non-residents);

An
Illinois State Tax return, IL-1040, and

A
Statement for Exempt Individuals, Form 8843.

3. For
a student who has earned income from a job, there is a standard
exemption (i.e., amount not
taxed). In 2000 this amount was $2800. For all income
over the standard exemption amount of $2800, the person must pay
tax, unless he or she comes from a country which has a tax treaty
with the U.S that indicates otherwise.

4.
The "Exempt" status of the W-4 form (which the student
fills out at the time of employment) expires each year, and a new form must be completed by mid-February
of the following year.

5.
The deadline for filing tax returns and paying taxes every year
is April 15th.

Social Security taxes/FICA

A separate tax issue is Social Security tax, also known as
FICA. In general, as an F-1 student, you will be exempt from
Social
Security and Medicare taxes for your first five years in
the United States, as long as you continue to declare non-resident
status for tax purposes (see Internal Revenue Service Publication
519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens). [26 CFR 3121(b)(19)]. (These
rules also apply to other students since all Undergraduate
students enrolled in at least 6.0 credit hours and graduate
students enrolled in at least 2.0 credit hours during fall
and winter semesters are exempt from paying FICA (neither
the
student nor the department pays the FICA Tax). Of course,
all international students must enroll in classes full time
in
order to maintain status. This is 8 credit hours for graduate
students, and 12 credit hours for undergraduate students,
unless an exception from full time enrollment has been granted
in
advance by the International Student Services Office.

F-1 students who worked off campus with the appropriate work
authorization (economic hardship employment or practical training)
are also exempt from these two taxes. However, F-1 students in
the U.S. in this status for more than five years, and those in
other non-immigrant statuses, and those who worked without authorization
ARE subject to Social Security (FICA) and Medicare Tax.

Refunds of FICA Taxes

If FICA has been withheld in error, the employer must provide
a refund. The employer applies for reimbursement by filing
a claim on form 941C with IRS. Thus, if Social Security tax
was
withheld in error and your employer is a state or local government
organization, including educational institutions, you should
first request a refund from the local government employer or
school administrator.

If the employer cannot or will not issue the refund, there is
a special procedure you can use to obtain a refund of Social
Security and Medicare Tax. This procedure is entirely separate
from filing your income tax forms.

If your employer does not refund social security tax although
it was withheld in error, you should request a refund from the
IRS. You will be required to show on the forms that you attempted
to contact your employer first. You will also be required to
attach copies of your work authorization, a copy of your I-94
card, and a copy of your W-2 form. It all gets mailed to the
IRS office in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. You should keep copies
of everything you send and allow from eight to ten weeks for
processing. To obtain a refund in this way, file a claim on Form
843 <http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f843.pdf> and Form
8316 with the IRS office to which your employer pays Social Security
taxes. If you do not know which office this is, send your claim
to: Internal Revenue Service Center, Philadelphia, PA 19255.

Go to the IRS website at <http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq13-5.html> for
instructions. Different kinds of taxes are withheld by employers.
The W-2 form (Wage and Tax Statement) sent to you by your employer
each January has boxes for reporting withholding of Federal Income
Tax (box 2), Social Security Tax (box 4), Medicare Tax (box 6),
State Income Tax (box 17) and local income tax (box 19).

IRS
Tax Information

You may obtain publications on tax regulations and tax forms from
these sources:

International
Student Services Office
The ISS has a variety of forms and publications
available. It also offers an IRS (Internal Revenue Service)
Tax Workshop each year conducted by IRS-trained volunteers, on campus
to help the University's foreign students and staff complete their
tax returns. ISS staff
members are not qualified to answer tax questions
so it is important that you attend this workshop!

The
IRS web site is www.irs.gov/
. These web page offer IRS Publications and Forms (select "Forms
and Pubs"), all listed in order of their number. These
publications and forms may be downloaded and printed, along with their
instructions. Most non-immigrant aliens on F, J and H visas will need
to complete the 1040NR EZ form (Federal) and the IL-1040EZ form (State);
BUT you must be sure to read the instructions to make sure that you
are completing the correct forms.

IRS
Local Office

Note: Lewis
University staff members are not qualified to answer tax questions. If
you have questions, you may contact IRS or your tax advisor.

Disclaimer

By posting this information, the Office of International
Student Services is providing a service to the Lewis University
international student community. The Office of International
Student Services is not responsible for information or services
provided by the agencies, business, or individuals listed on
this page. The Office of International Student Services assumes
no responsibility, nor do we endorse any specific agency, business,
or individual listed. Moreover, the Office of International Student
Services may not intervene on behalf of either party should a
dispute
arise. Because of legal restrictions, the staff of International
Student Services Office (ISS) is not qualified to answer individual
questions from international students regarding their tax liabilities
or to provide individual tax advice. United States tax law is
extremely complex and each student's situation varies.

Please note also that the staff of the Office of International
Student Services is NOT able to provide any assistance to you
as you work on your taxes; we simply do not have the requisite
expertise to do so.